Fit For Life: Life Is Not A Dress Rehersal

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Matt Espeut, GoLocalPDX Health +Lifestyle Contributor

This week, my column is not all my own. That’s because I recently read a letter Steve Jobs wrote and am sharing it with you. I think it is timely and significant enough because it directly relates with my life’s mission. That mission is to help as many people as possible become as fit and healthy as they possibly can, and achieve great personal success doing it. Steve Jobs achieved massive success, but beyond creating a superior product, how many lives did he impact, personally, along the way? How many of his customers and coworkers did he see smile and get excited as a direct result of the positive influence he had on their lives? Yes, of course, buying tech toys makes us happy, but you know what I’m getting to. How did he enhance people’s self esteem, or make them feel physically invigorated? He may have given lots of money to useful causes, but did he have a deeper involvement to see the end result – how his support impacted people? I know I do, and money can't buy that type of satisfaction, the type that comes from knowing you made a difference to others’ lives.

We get one chance; no retakes.

I took his message personally, and I think you should too. He had little joy in his life despite all his wealth and success, because he had no balance; it was all work and chasing success. Yes I want success, but I don't want to be miserable, and stressed out of my mind along the way. Health is invaluable, and Jobs regretted not taking better care of himself. This is why I wanted to share this with you. Don’t reach that point in your quest for success, because once you are sick to a certain degree, its highly unlikely you will bounce back. If you are overweight, sedentary, and live a destructive lifestyle, it is almost inevitable that you will go along that path. Realize that being pro active and taking care of yourself now is the thing to do, instead of being reactive and trying to fix things when it’s too late. So here it is. Grab a box of tissue, and read Steve Jobs last words. Chase success, work hard, but create some balance while you are doing it. Do it for your kids, spouse, family, and more importantly, create that balance for – yourself! Unlike a movie, life has no dress rehearsal, cuts, or retakes. We only get one chance at this performance, so put your best foot forward, and cherish what’s important to you.

Steve Jobs’ Last Words

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to. At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death. In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of God, of death, drawing closer… Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth… Should be something that is more important: Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days… Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me. What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love. That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. Love can travel a thousand miles. Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands. What is the most expensive bed in the world? – ‘The Sick Bed’… You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you, but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – ‘Life’. When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – ‘The Book of Healthy Life’. Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down. Treasure love - for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends… Treat yourself well. Cherish others.”

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of two fitness centers on the east coast. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one!"

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

Prev Next

MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

Prev Next

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

Prev Next

JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

Prev Next

Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

Prev Next

YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

Prev Next

SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

Prev Next

Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android